Currently there are systems and methods for facilitating online transactions. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one current system 100 used to facilitate making payments for online purchases. There are two categories of payment services available in such traditional systems. One category includes person-to-person and person-to-merchant payment services. The other category includes direct-to-merchant payment services. In such traditional methods, a user must open an account 104 with the service, referred to in FIGS. 1 and 2 as “X” service, and the user must fund the account. The account 104 must be funded using an external financial source 102, such as a checking account, a credit card, etc. In addition, funds must be kept on deposit in the account 104 for transfer or disbursement. The funds are transferred to the account 104 by the user with no sharing of information, such as information regarding other user accounts, or user creditors, etc. Money in the account 104 can be used for any of account services 112 offered by “X” service. Funds from the account 104 are distributed to payees 106 when the user performs a transaction that allows use of the “X” service, including payments to individuals 106A and to online stores 106B. Payment services 108 for person-to-person payments, and payment services 110 for direct-to-merchant payments are shown. Examples of such traditional services include the PayPal™ service.
However, current systems and methods for facilitating online transactions have significant limitations. FIG. 2 illustrates various limitations of the “X” service. For example, settlement time 113 for payment from the external financial source 102 to the user account 104 can be 3 to 4 days using a DDA account. When funds are transferred from the account 104 to multiple destination accounts 105, an additional 3 to 4 days settlement time is incurred in transferring the funds from the destination accounts 105 to a main bank account 117. This creates a worst-case settlement time of up to 8 days, not including any delays caused by verification processes at any transfer point.
Another disadvantage of such current systems is that the user must fund and manage the account 104 with “X” service as a separate account and relationship distinct from any other payor or payee relationships.